With the sad news that the footballing world has lost its greatest ever icon, we look back at the year Pele graced the pitch at Goodison Park.
Of course, most will remember 1966 as the year that England lifted the Jules Rimet trophy as World Cup Champions after their spectacular final against West Germany. But it's also the year that reigning champions, Brazil, crashed out of the competition after two disastrous games at Goodison.
The undoubted star of the Brazil squad was of course, Pele. Aged 25, the footballing legend was at the peak of his powers and was the focus of the world press' attention as he arrived at Liverpool Airport with suitcases in hand and a police escort to the team hotel in the village of Lymm in Warrington.
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In 2014, ECHO journalist David Triggs wrote about Pele's experience on Merseyside that year. The story of Brazil’s 1966 World Cup campaign is sprinkled with the glitter and glamour of Pele and team mate Garrincha, but also it's remembered for displays of defensive brutality and gamesmanship which left the team's supporters crying on the streets of Merseyside.
The reigning champions' involvement in the tournament, made up of three rain-lashed group matches at Goodison Park, sparkled briefly before being extinguished in ruthless fashion. Liverpool, a football-mad city playing host to a team from a football-mad nation, saw only flashes of what Brazil were capable of before they were eliminated from the competition following a 3-1 loss to Eusebio’s Portugal, their second defeat in three.
The Grand Old Lady had been given a facelift for the World Cup. The Park End stand was reconstructed at a cost of £160,000, providing seating for 2,500 fans. The pitch was extended by five yards to meet World Cup requirements while 900 seats were removed from the Goodison Road stand to make way for the typewriters and telephones for 700 journalists from around the world.
A crowd of 52,847 watched the first ever World Cup match to be played on Merseyside on a wet Tuesday in mid-July. They saw the Brazilians kick-off their title defence with a 2-0 victory over Bulgaria, with Pele and Garrincha scoring free-kicks.
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At the time, The Daily Post reported: "Merseyside football enthusiasts in the crowd demonstrated early on that their support was for the Bulgarian underdog. But though they went to cheer the Bulgars, it was the Brazilians they were applauding at the end of the game."
Reporter Horace Yates hailed the "sheer magical genius of Pele," adding: "What a player he is. Now Merseyside followers know that the Pele legend is no mere story but more a tribute in words to probably the finest and most skilfully endowed player in the game anywhere in the world."
Pele was "fouled times without number" by his Bulgarian marker, Dobromir Zhechev, and was rested for the next game, against Hungary, due to fatigue. He was sorely missed as the Magnificent Magyars rolled back the clock with a display reminiscent of their great teams from the 1950s.
The Goodison crowd cheered every Hungary pass and booed every Brazilian touch of the ball for minutes on end. Horace Yates wrote: "I hope Brazil did not misconstrue this party piece as hostility. It was far from that."
Following the 3-1 defeat, Brazil boss, Vicente Feola, who had masterminded the nation's 1958 triumph, said: "We played badly and the Hungarians played magnificently." He added: "I send my congratulations to a great team."
Brazil needed a result in the final group game to stay in the competition against a strong Portugal team who, with Eusebio, had their own footballing great on the pitch that day. More than 10,000 fans were locked out of the final Group C game as a capacity 62,000 crowd crammed in to Goodison.
Pele, still recovering from his rough treatment on the field in the first group game was brought back into the team for the crucial match. Despite Pele back in the side, the game itself did not go Brazil's way.
The world's greatest player was reduced to a hobbling, bandaged shadow from the 30th minute after a bone-jarring challenge from Morais. With substitutes not allowed at the time, Pele had to stay on the field limping for the rest of the game, powerless to help his team in any meaningful way.
The rival for Pele’s crown, Eusebio, scored twice to seal Portugal’s third group win. But for all their brilliance, the Portuguese also came in for criticism at the time for their tough-tackling and cynical time wasting.
Following the game, Liverpool Daily Post journalist, Ian Hargreaves, summed up the devastation felt by the nation of the reigning champions as they saw their heroes eliminated: "Brazilians wept in the streets of Liverpool after their team, World Cup holders for the last eight years, crashed 3-1 to Portugal."
A crowd of about 200 supporters waited behind after the match to applaud the Brazilians as they headed back to their HQ at Lymm Hotel - but they took no notice as they trudged away from Goodison. It was a tournament that broke Pele's heart.
Year's later, in an interview with FIFA, Pele said: "The 1966 World Cup was the toughest experience I have ever had in football. I missed part of the 1962 World Cup with injury, and in England, once again, I wasn't able to play as I would have liked.
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"It was one of the saddest things, and it was made even worse by the fact we got knocked out. I went away from that World Cup determined never to play for A Seleção again.
"The only reason I decided to play in 1970 was because I was in great form with Santos. The scars of '66 were still there though."
Having vowed never to play for Brazil again, Pele was called back to the national team in early 1969. At first he refused, but later accepted and played in six World Cup qualifying matches, scoring six goals.
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The 1970 World Cup in Mexico was expected to be his last. He found himself in a Brazil squad that is often considered to be the greatest football team in history.
Reaching the final, Brazil played Italy at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. Pele scored the opening goal with a header and his celebratory leap of joy into the arms of teammate Jairzinho is regarded as one of the most iconic moments in World Cup history.
He then made assists for Brazil's third and fourth goals, before the last goal of the game was scored by his side after Pele made a blind pass that found Carlos Alberto's run who struck the ball into the back of the net. Brazil won the match 4-1, keeping the Jules Rimet Trophy indefinitely and Pele received the Golden Ball as the player of the tournament - finally banished the nightmare of 1966.
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